Rocky Creek and Claustral Canyons 11 – 12 February 2017

A very hot weekend was forecast. Dan was coming up from Canberra with friends to celebrate his birthday and had proposed a weekend of canyoning with a camp at Barcoo Swamp.

Rocky Creek Canyon

Claustral Canyon

With the hot weather forecast, it sounded ideal to get out and visit some cold canyons. A total fire ban was in place and there was the possibility that some of the national parks would be closed. But checking online on the Friday evening and Saturday morning showed Wollemi National Park was still open, so we could at least camp at Barcoo Swamp and visit some of the nearby canyons.

Dan, and the Canberra group (Dan, Lauren, Gabriel and Sharon) had camped on the Friday night at Barcoo Swamp and the rest of us (Rik. Rob, John, Albert and myself) met up on Saturday morning. We headed out the short distance to Galah Mountain and then set off for Rocky Creek Canyon. I wanted to photograph, so headed straight down to the canyon. The others went via Twister Canyon.

Rocky Creek Canyon was prefect on this very hot day. There were a lot of other visitors – I would estimate that I saw well over one hundred over visitors to the canyon doing the course of the day.

I took my time, setting up my tripod and taking pretty of photos. Albert later joined me. I ventured up and down the canyon several times looking for good light. I had plenty of time. The plan was to stay in the cool confines of the canyon for as long as possible.

Here are some more photos from Rocky Creek –

In the late afternoon, we did walk out back up to the carpark at Galah Mountain and then drive back to the camp at Barcoo Swamp.

We had no fire or hot food that night, but enjoyed a cold platter and a few cold drinks…. then a few more drinks…. until late in the evening. And a pleasant evening it was too. But in the distance, we could hear the dull beat of a Bush Doof – many kilometres away. The music lasted all night long and was certainly annoying. At least it cooled down nicely during the evening. The temperature in the morning was a pleasant 19°C.

With another hot day forecast on Sunday, we headed off to visit Claustral Canyon (except for John, who had to head back to town). We left the carpark at 10 am and had a nice quiet trip through the canyon. We saw no other parties during the day (the logbook revealed that two other parties had set out earlier than we had). Again, we also lingered in the  canyon – staying in the creek until a cool change hit later in the afternoon. This allowed both me and Albert some time to take a few photos in the main section of Claustral Canyon.

On the day, the canyon was very dark and gloomy. Strangely dark. And there was a faint mist in the canyon that gave the canyon an ethereal beauty. We had no beams on this visit.

And a few photos of Thunder Canyon –

More photos are online on my website – Rocky Creek Canyon here and Claustral Canyon here.